Bunny with eye problem

[bji106]

Hello all,

I have a 10-month-old male Netherland Dwarf rabbit. When he was about 7 months old, I noticed that he started developing a white spot on his right eye. I used saline solution to clean the eye, thinking he had particles in it. The white spot got bigger and then a white spot appeared in the left eye as well. I took him to a local veterinarian where they used a stain to check for an abrasion, and there was not one. The vet prescribed flurbiprofen drops (2x/day for 7 days) and erythromycin ointment (3x/day for 7 days). I administered the treatments and took him back at the end of seven days. The treatments did not improve the eyes, they actually seemed to worsen. The vet said she would not be able to do anything more and perhaps it was a genetic defect. I continued to watch the eyes and my bunny. The white spots did not seem to be bothering him, his eyes were not watering, he was not squinting, he was not running into things, and did not seem to be in pain. Now the eyes have developed red spots on the white area. Again, they don't seem to bother him, but I would love to be able to heal them. He is eating heartily (mixed grass hay, fresh grass, vegetables, and pellets), drinking normally, and seems to have normal bathroom habits. He runs around my apartment quite happily. I thought it may be an allergy to his bedding, so last week I switched from pine shavings to paper bedding. Any advice would be wonderful!

 

[JBun]

That is not an allergy. And if that is the extent of that vets knowledge on rabbits, I highly suggest looking for one that has some idea of what they are doing.

Based on that picture my first guess would have been corneal ulcer, but with the test not showing an abrasion, and it being in both eyes, maybe cataract? Possibly caused by e. cuniculi, in which case, treatment with fenbendazole may help, though I don't know that the damage done to the eyes can be fixed.

WARNING: Some of these pictures may be disturbing
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Eye_diseases_main.htm

You may be able to find a better rabbit vet on one of these lists.
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/finding-vet-13366/

 

[missyscove]

That certainly doesn't look like a normal bunny eye to me.

Have you considered taking him to a veterinary ophthalmologist?
I'm not sure where you're located, but you can find one via these listings:
http://www.acvo.org/new/diplomates/Dip1.shtml

 

[kmaben]

Just be cautioned an Opthamologist is going to cost you. The vet visit alone will be more expensive than a regular vet due to the fact they're a specialty. However an opthamologist will be the most knowledgeable about what is going on. It may be as simple as genetic cataracts in which case nothing can really be done to slow it down. Like Jen said they could be caused by E. Culi which is not good but managable and usually comes with other symptoms that can cause big trouble.

Best of luck to you.

 

[bji106]

Thank you all for your input!

JBun - I did ask at the clinic if the vet had experience with rabbits and the response was yes. I had brought up the question of E. cuniculi with the vet when she looked at Mickey, but she didn't seem to think that was the problem.

missyscove - I did consider taking him to a veterinary ophthalmologist, and even called to make an appointment after the original vet was unable to diagnose him, but the base price just to walk in the door was $150, which didn't include any tests or prescriptions. I had just spent over $200 on the other vet visits with no luck so I was feeling a little burnt out. At the time, the eyes only had the small white spots and they weren't getting worse so I decided to keep a close watch on them instead.

kmaben - Thank you for the note of caution about the veterinary ophthalmologist. I did discover they are very expensive the first time I called after the round of vet visits that didn't work.

Based on your advice, I guess Mickey and I will be making a trip to the ophthalmologist as soon as we can this week. Thank you all again! Hopefully we can get it resolved.

 

[kira❤tonio!!]

It's obvious take it to the vet no question about it do it go go go !!


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[Geoff]

concerned about the possibility of pus in the eye.. if so, that needs medical attention ASAP as pus in the eye can quickly lead to pus in the optic chiasm (place where the ocular nerves cross as they come from the brain to the eye)... and from there... it can lead to an infection in the brain (never a good thing). I would personally put down the money for an eye doctor as they could possibly save your bunnie's life (I may be being a bit overdramatic here, but I have seen plenty of rabbits die from just this thing... IF that is what this is... sure looks like it could be).

 

[bji106]

I took Mickey to the veterinary ophthalmologist yesterday morning and the diagnosis is that he has eosinophilic keratitis of unknown cause. They did a stain, it was not an ulcer, they said it did not present the same way as E. cuniculi either. Then the vet used numbing drops on Mickey's eye and took a scraping of the accumulated cells. He looked at the cells under the microscope and there were quite a few eosinophils (which should never, ever be in eye tissue). Before my visit, he hadn't seen eosinophillic keratitis in rabbits before, but had seen it in cats and horses. He prescribed an antibiotic drop 2x/day and a steriod drop at 1x/day, with a return visit in two weeks. He also suggested that I contact my regular veterinarian (which I have done) to ask about deworming Mickey because it may be a trigger for flare-ups in the future. The eyes should heal and in the mean time, I will be keeping a close watch to make sure the steroids and antibiotic do not interfere with his digestive system.

 

[kmaben]

goodness. Glad that was caught. Hope he feels better soon.